


A Little Doubt

by lovegood27



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Complete, Family Fluff, Fluff, Foreign Language, French Characters, Gen, Mythical Beings & Creatures, Mythology References, One Shot, Veela
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-30
Updated: 2018-03-30
Packaged: 2019-04-15 00:08:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,358
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14147604
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lovegood27/pseuds/lovegood27
Summary: Muggle schools can sometimes give you doubts even about the people you love the most.





	A Little Doubt

The house stood on its own in a close. It was massive, with 3 floors and 8 bedrooms all complete with ornate balconies, and had been painted a soothing cream colour which, at night, gave the impression that the house was glowing. With a front and back garden both filled with colourful flowers, it looked beautiful as the radiant sun shone upon it. 

There was a little pathway from the house that led to a huge iron gate which protected the grounds from intruders. A woman and a girl were making their way along the path towards the house. The girl was chatting animatedly about school in French to the woman, and kept pausing to smell the roses growing on the side. Both the girl and the woman seemed to be emitting a faint glow from their pearly skin and had long silky blonde hair. 

"Maman, can I pick a rose?" The girl was asking. "Please?"

"Alright," her mother replied. "But quickly, Grand-mère is coming to have dinner with us today, remember."

The girl started as her grandmother was mentioned; she had forgotten that she would be coming to dinner. Carefully, she picked a pale pink rose off a bush, now with a frown on her face. 

"Fleur, is something wrong?" The mother asked. 

"I don't...I don't really want Grand-mère to come," Fleur said as they approached the door to the big house.

Her mother didn't respond at first. She took a long thin stick out of the handbag she was carrying and, making sure no one was around, unlocked the front door with a jerk of the stick. 

Once they had stepped inside their house, Fleur's mother put her wand safely in her pocket before shutting the door. 

"Why don't you want your Grand-mère to come? You were ever so excited about it yesterday-we are getting your wand core today."

Fleur's grandmother was a Veela, and it had been her idea to give away a strand of her own hair as a magical core substance for the wand Fleur would have when she was old enough to attend Beauxbatons Academy of Magic. Fleur had been delighted at the idea and had managed to convince her parents with her pleading, who had at first thought it was silly to have a wand personally made for her when she was still too young to use it.

Fleur chewed her lip, taking off the leather shoes she had to wear for her Muggle school as slowly as possible so she wouldn't have to answer her mother's question. 

"Well...we were studying Slavic mythology in school today..." Fleur started hesitatingly. 

"Yes?"

"And we were learning about Vila. They're women who can seduce men and can turn into wolves and I just...you told me that Grand-mère could..." She trailed off. 

Fleur's mother could start to see where this was going. The things Fleur was taught at that Muggle school of hers! A pointless subject called _Maths_ which was identical to Arithmancy, muggle revolutions that had happened in the seventeenth century...and how things like unicorns and other magical animals didn't exist! The very idea! Apolline Delacour did not approve of her daughter being educated like a Muggle, but her husband had insisted it would prove useful and couldn't do any harm, something she did not agree with. She was secretly thinking of taking Fleur out of school now, while her husband was away on a business trip in England. 

"So you think your grandmother is a Vila?" Apolline guessed.

"No. I mean, Vila are myths, so they probably don't exist. It's just that-well, you said Grand-mère can turn into an animal," Fleur said, twirling her rose around in her hand. "Just like a Vila. So maybe she is one. But if she can turn into a wolf, they are very dangerous, so..."

Apolline sighed. " _Chérie_ , Grand-mère is a _Veela_ , not a Vila." She went into the big kitchen and took out a small vase made of blue glass, giving it to her daughter. 

"Here you go. It's for your rose," she said. 

"But I still don't understand," Fleur said, taking the pretty vase with her to the tap and half-filling it with water. "You said that Grand-mère could enchant men with her dancing, which is something Vila can also do."

"She _can_ enchant men," her mother corrected. "She hasn't aged very much because she's a Veela, so she still has her abilities to charm men-if she wants."

"And you said that she can turn into an animal," Fleur continued, taking little notice of her mother's last comment. "So she's a Vila!"

" _Non, non, non._ You must understand that there is a difference between Vila and Veela," Apolline said. " _Vila_ are the ghosts of women but Veela _are_ women. They can both seduce men easily, but Vila can turn into animals at will. Not just wolves; also horses and dogs and other animals. A Veela, however, will only become a bird-like animal when they are angry."

"Have you ever seen Grand-mère angry?" Fleur asked, fascinated by the explanation. She looked relieved that her grandmother wasn't a Vila; they hadn't sounded too pleasant when she had heard about them at school. 

"No, and I hope I never will. Veela can throw fire in their hands and I am not exactly fire proof," her mother laughed. Fleur laughed along with her before another thought crossed her mind and she grew serious again. 

"Maman?"

"Yes?" 

"When we take out a hair from Grand-mère, will she grow old and die? Because that's what happens if you take out a Vila's hair."

"No, she will not die," Apolline said soothingly. "That is another difference between Vila and Veela. And I find that Veela are much nicer."

"So Vila are real?" Fleur asked, looking a little sceptical. 

" _Mais, oui_! Muggles believe they are just myths but witches and wizards know better. I've met one before myself," Apolline added. 

"Really? What was she like?" Fleur asked eagerly. "Did you take a photograph of her so I can see?"

"Sorry, no," her mother said, looking amused. 

"Oh." Fleur looked a bit disappointed. "But was she pretty?"

"Very," Apolline said seriously. 

"Did she turn into an animal?"

"No." Fleur's mother smiled. 

"Was she angry with you?"

"Not really," Apolline said reflectively. "But I think she was a bit annoyed with me."

"How did you even meet her? And where? Was it when you were _une petite fille_?" 

"I will tell you another day," Apolline promised. "Your grand-mère will be coming in a few minutes. Go upstairs and change into something nice for her. Oh, and don't forget this." She gave the vase with the flower in it back to Fleur, who had set it down by the sink. 

"Oh, _merci_!" Fleur took the vase and hurried up the tall staircase to her bedroom. 

After looking around for a while, Fleur decided to put the vase on her desk where she wrote her homework from the Muggle school she attended. The rose would provide a nice distraction from the 'algebra' and 'chemical equations'.

Looking inside her big wardrobe, Fleur picked out a white summer dress that she particularly liked. She changed out of her grey skirt and green jumper and slipped the dress on, releasing her long hair from its plait that was required at school so that it hung down her back in a glossy sheet. 

Fleur had just enough time to have a quick glance in the mirror (which proved satisfactory enough) before their Muggle doorbell rang, sending her racing down the stairs to greet her grandmother and also-

"Gabrielle! I've missed you!" Fleur exclaimed, even though she had seen Gabrielle just that very morning. She threw her arms around her chubby little sister, picking her up and spinning her around before setting her down. Gabrielle laughed delightedly, her cheeks flushed with colour. 

"Fleur, am I going to get a hug too?" The tall woman also standing in the doorway smiled. She had silvery blonde hair just like her granddaughters and was just as-if not more so-beautiful as them. 

All her previous doubts gone, Fleur embraced her grandmother unhesitatingly.

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: This is very unlike any other fics I've written since there are mythical creatures involved. Apologies if not all of it is accurate. I'd love to know what you think of this story and I love comments! Did you like young Fleur? General plot? Let me know! :)
> 
> A guide to the (probably not very good) French:
> 
>  _Maman_ -Mum  
>  _Grand-mère_ -Grandmother  
>  _Chérie_ -sweetheart  
>  _Non, non, non_ -no, no, no  
>  _Mais, oui!_ -But, yes!  
>  _Une petite fille_ -a little girl  
>  _Merci_ -thank you
> 
> DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of the characters in this, nor do I own Vila, which are from Slavic mythology.


End file.
